East Peoria man charged with years of child assaults

Monday

May 1, 2017 at 3:59 PM

By Michael Smothers / Pekin Daily Times

PEKIN — Decades in prison may await an East Peoria man charged with sexually assaulting a girl for six years before she turned 13.

Roger Stiver, 50, allegedly continued his crimes against the victim for two more years before they ended in May 2016, according to eight felony charges filed against him Friday. The girl revealed them to her school counselor last January, court records state.

Since then, investigators have learned that Stiver was under investigation for alleged similar crimes committed against another girl 15 years ago, for which no charges apparently were filed, according to a prosecutor’s court affidavit.

They’ve also received evidence “of multiple other individuals who alleged (Stiver) has solicited and/or sexually assaulted them in a similar manner” as his latest alleged victim described, the affidavit stated. Investigations in those cases have begun.

Stiver, of 105 Moschel St., was charged Friday with three counts of predatory criminal sexual assault against a girl under 13, Class X offenses punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

He’s also charged with three counts of criminal sexual assault of a girl under 18 and two of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a girl under 18. Those crimes’ prison punishments range from three to 15 years.

He’s remained in custody since Friday on $500,000 bond, with a preliminary hearing on the charges set for May 25.

Stiver’s other possible sexual crimes took place in locations outside Tazewell County, the affidavit stated. He has no prior criminal record in Tazewell or Peoria counties.

He is charged with committing repeated sexual assaults in East Peoria after he met the girl when she was about age 7, according to the affidavit, which was redacted to remove details of the alleged victim’s identity.

The latest investigation began in January after the girl’s school counselor reported that she had disclosed the alleged assaults to her, the affidavit stated.